Four Largest Cellphone Carriers Squeezing Smaller Providers Out Of The Market

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jamesontoms

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Jan 3, 2008
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Tracfone at $100 per year
Several years ago, I tried Sprint, getting appalled at what I called fraud.
Sprint faulted on their homepage's huge advertisement,
they failed to recognize a failed phone I returned even though Sprint paid for the return, their phone response was 20 minutes to 40 minutes,
and they would refuse to resolve issues
-- one empathetic Sprint person said, "It'll be a blue moon before Sprint responds to this [your] submission."

I then tried AT&T.

From my Sprint Fraud website,
I've received email from the main cell phone customers,
distraught over their enormous phone bills -- often of the order $700.
Cell phones aren't like home phones -- why don't people prefer prepaid
service like much of the rest of the world.
Does advertising so beckon, or are Americans so innumerate,
that people in the U.S. can't seek their best interest.

After a year, and being familiar with far less expensive cell phone service outside the U.S., I have now for 5 years used
Tracfone (tracfone.com)
Each year, I pay $100 for their 1 year card with 400 minutes.
I needn't do anything for a whole year, unless I use up all 400 minutes.
I get no monthly bill, and I have no possibility for a $700 cell phone bill.
At these prices, I, my wife, and my child all now have a Tracfone.
I've seen Tracfone in a small section of WalMart, Target, RadioShack, Safeway, CVS, ...
Having started from a Mexican company, Tracfone
provides a less expensive and less frustrating service
than Sprint and other major cell phone carriers.

 
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I guess it all depends on your area. I have had ATT (Cingular) for the last 4 years and I have never had a problem with the service. In that time Ive dropped maybe a hand full of calls and have never gone over my minutes (with the free Cingular-to-Cingular calls I hardly used any minutes). The only issue I ever had was when I jumped in the inter coastal with my 8125. It was only 7mo old and I was paying insurance on it that I carried over from my previous phone. It turns out that the 8125 isnt eligible for insurance so they refunded me the money I had already paid for insurance and forced me to buy a new phone. At first I was pissed but it worked out well for me because I ended up upgrading to the 3G 8252 for about $100.
 
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When is the FCC going to ditch the current spectrum licensing model and make it all Wifi? All providers would have bandwidth sharing agreements just like internet backbones and it would let you use other companies towers if you weren't near one of your own.

The current model for cellphones are a rip off. Not too mention the monopoly given to radio and TV stations.
 
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